64 FOOD HABITS OF THE GROSBEAKS. 



sources is much less. It is evident that wild fruits are preferred, 

 and that it is their abundance that protects the later ripening orchard 

 varieties. In order to protect early cultivated fruit, therefore, it 

 is necessary to plant decoy fruit trees which will come into bearing 

 at the same time as the earliest varieties. 



Such a fruit is the mulberry, which has long been known as a fa- 

 vorite of all frugivorous birds. There are many varieties derived 

 from both foreign and native species, some one or other of which is 

 suitable for any part of the United States. Perhaps the best of these 

 to protect early fruit is the Townsend, which originated in northern 

 Florida from the native red mulberry. This mulberry is very pro- 

 lific and ripens fruit very early (in the latter part of March and 

 April in Florida), a characteristic it will doubtless retain wherever 

 it may be planted. Among other races of the same native stock are 

 the Hicks, bearing in June and July, and the Stubbs, from June to 

 August. The white mulberry of Asia (Morns alba) has yielded the 

 Black English, the season of which is May to July, and the New 

 American, fruiting at the same time, but very hardy, being adapted 

 to mountain climates. The Russian mulberry (Morus a. tatarica) 

 also is hardy, and bears in May and June. The suitability of the 

 mulberry for California is affirmed by Prof. E. J. Wickson,® who 

 says : " Nearly all varieties of the mulberry have been introduced 

 in California and grown rapidly and thriftily." He commends the 

 New American and Russian, mentioned above, and further states: 

 " The mulberry has a long season. The Persian ripens in Tulare the 

 last of May and continually thereafter until October." 



Although the mulberry is an excellent fruit when fresh, it has been 

 put to little use, the main reason no doubt being that it is not adapted 

 to transportation. Since it is not of commercial importance, why 

 not use it to protect more valuable fruits? The returns from such 

 an investment, according to the testimony of many observers, are 

 great. Dr. C. Hart Merriam says : 6 



Groves of mulberry trees during the period of fruiting are thronged by hun- 

 dreds if not thousands of birds, comprising many species and representing 

 diverse groups. Such insectivorous kinds as flycatchers, warblers, vireos, and 

 even cuckoos, form a part of the heterogeneous assemblage, departing from 

 their customary diet long enough to join the multitude of blackbirds, orioles, 

 finches, sparrows, tanagers, waxwings, catbirds, bluebirds, and thrushes, which 

 from daylight until dark gorge themselves upon the tender berries. It seems 

 incredible that such small birds as warblers, vireos, and the least flycatcher 

 can open their tiny mouths wide enough to swallow such large berries as they 

 really do gulp down with little effort. I know of no better tree than the mul- 

 berry to plant in public and private grounds for the purpose of attracting our 

 resident birds. 



° California Fruits and How to Grow Them, San Francisco, 3rd ed., 1900, 

 p. 398. 



6 Kept. Chief Div. Ornith. and Mamm. (1890), 1891, p. 285. 



